Data scientists are big data enthusiasts as they gather and analyse a large set of structured and unstructured data. They analyse the data and then interpret the results to create actionable plans for the company.
Such professionals use both technological and social science data to find trends and patterns and uncover solutions for business challenges.
Even though there is a huge demand for data science professionals, it is still not easy for freshers to land a job. Employers look for skillful candidates who are highly experienced.
This is one of the reasons why freshers don’t get an interview call. Students are now realising the importance of pursuing Data Scientist courses which can help them improve their skills for this growing market.
According to the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, it is the best time to build a career in data science, as the jobs requiring data science skills are expected to grow by 27.9% by the end of 2026.
Becoming a certified data scientist would make you stand out of the crowd and get your dominance. Certifications courses are also highly recognized among employers and validate the skills of an individual.
In this article, we’ll be looking at some of the steps that one can follow to become a certified data scientist.
Possess the Required Skills
- Data scientists usually deal with data. They analyse, manipulate and create sense out of the data.
- To be able to do all this work successfully they should be able to understand data, algorithm/ logic, programming skills, statistics, and business domains.
- Some of the skills they should be experts in include basic Python, R, Data Management, Exploratory Analysis, Statistical Experimentation, Machine Learning & Model Development, Coding for Production Environment, Communication, and Reporting.
- Candidates are also expected to have a graduation in one of the related fields like Computer Science, Data, Machine Learning, Mathematics, Statistics, etc.
Specializations
- Data science is a vast field so specialising in a particular area could help you to stay prepared for a particular industry.
- It will help one become an expert in a specific area and also increase the earning potential.
- One can specialise in areas like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Research, or Database Management.
Find Entry-Level Job as Data Scientist
- After acquiring the required knowledge and skills, one can start working as a data scientist.
- They should prepare their resume displaying their projects and accomplishments and start applying in companies where there is room for growth.
Become Certified
- Certificates come to your rescue, especially when you are struggling to get a good job after completing your course.
- There are a few certification exams that are highly recognized among employers and help validate the skills of an individual.
- The certification itself proves that the candidates are skillful in a specific area.
Data Science Certificates
Some of the data scientist certifications that one can consider to become a certified data scientist are discussed below.
IBM Data Science Professional Certificate – Coursera
- This professional certificate will provide knowledge in the areas of data science, its methodologies, tools used, and various data science skills.
- It will teach the candidates to import and clean data sets, analyse and visualise data, and build and evaluate machine learning models using Python.
- It will help students learn various skills using the tools, languages, and libraries used by professional data scientists.
- It will provide an opportunity to complete a project and publish a report using data science skills, techniques, and tools.
Duration: Approximately 11 months
Cost: Free
Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Scientist Associate
- This is a data scientist certification offered by Microsoft that shows that the individual has subject expertise in data science and machine learning to implement and run machine learning workloads on Azure.
- This certification exam measures the ability of the candidate to accomplish technical tasks like managing Azure resources for machine learning, running experiments and training models, deploying and operationalizing machine learning solutions, and implementing responsible machine learning.
- The candidates who are applying for this certification should have knowledge and experience in data science and using Azure Machine Learning and Azure Databricks.
Course Cost: Free (online), Paid (instructor-led)
Cost: ₹4,800
Google Professional Data Engineer Certification – Coursera
- This is a Google-certified exam that is aimed to examine the skills one needs to be a qualified data engineer, like data-driven decisions, and building, training, testing, and optimising reliable models.
- One can apply for this certification directly through the official Google certificate page or can take the course and the certification through Coursera.
- This course will teach the candidates everything about machine learning and AI fundamentals and build efficient pipelines and analytics.
- It will help students to identify the purpose and value of Big data and Machine Learning products in Google Cloud.
Duration: Approximately 5 months
Cost : $200 for registration
Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate – Coursera
- This is a Google-certified online course that teaches the practices and processes used by junior or associate data analysts in their day-to-day job.
- It will teach key analytical skills like data cleaning, analysis & visualisation.
- The students will learn to use analytical tools like spreadsheets, SQL, R, Programming, Tableau, etc.
- The students will understand how to clean and organise data for analysis, how to analyse using the spreadsheet, SQL, and R programming.
- They will learn to visualise and present data findings in dashboards, presentations, and commonly used visualisation platforms.
Duration: 6 months
Cost: ₹1,044/month
Cloudera Certified Professional (CCP) Data Engineer
- The CCP Data Engineer certificate is for developers to test their ability to collect, process, and analyse data efficiency on the Cloudera CHD Environment.
- It will be a 240 minutes exam in which the applicants will be given 5-10 customer problems, each with its own large dataset and CDH cluster.
- The candidates will have to find a high-precision solution for each of these problems and implement it correctly, using any tool or combination of tools.
- To pass this exam, one has to score at least 70%.
- The candidates should have in-depth experience in developing data engineering solutions to clear this exam.
Exam Duration: 4 hours
Exam Cost: $400
We have mentioned some of the best certifications offered by the industry experts like Google, Microsoft, and IBM. So don’t wait as now is the best time to build a career in data science. Take the course, become a certified data scientist, and get high-paid jobs in various fields like IT, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, retail, etc.
